Structured Cabling and Using Category 5 and 6 Cables

Structured cabling is a cabling infrastructure system that consists of subsystems that support multiple different hardware uses. This is basically the base of your telecommunication system. By setting this cabling right the first time, your system will be well connected. Should there be changes to be made in the future, upgrades can be easily installed and added.

There are six subsystems:

Entrance facilities: The entrance to the building’s private or public network service cables.

Equipment rooms: houses all the equipment and wiring that serves the building.

Telecommunication closets: The connection between the cabling and horizontal cabling.

Backbone cabling: Carries the signals and consists of the transmission media. It’s mostly used in data centers.

Horizontal cabling: Standard Inside Wiring that connects the telecommunication rooms to many work areas through the wire ways, conduits and ceiling spaces of each floor.

Work-area components: are the components of your work area, your PC that is connected to the horizontal cabling.

Designing and Installing Structured Cabling

The design and installation of structured cabling are dictated by a set of rules that dictates where the wiring data centers go. Though various cables are used, the most familiar ones are the category 5e and 6e cables, fiber optics cables and modular connectors.

The difference between Category 5 and Category 6 Cables

Category 5 and 6 cables are used for a variety of purposes but mostly for network connection. These cables connect computers and servers to modems and Internet Service Providers.

Category 5 cables are broken into two categories, the Cat5 and Cat5E. Compared to the Cat5, the Cat5E and Cat6 cables are much faster in connection speed. The Cat5E gives up to 10x’s faster network speed and can traverse greater distances without being interrupted by other network cables electromagnetic signals.

Cat6 cables have been primarily used as the backbone of networks. The reason for this aside from costs is that Cat6 cables hold up to 10 GB of data. Cat6A, the newer version of Cat6, much like Cat5E, is able to function without the interference of other electromagnetic signals due to its thick plastic casing, and also can maintain the 10 GB of data for the full 328 feet of Ethernet cables. If you want to more functional, go with the Cat6A, but for most resident and commercial purposes, Cat5A and Cat6 cables should be sufficient.

How standards are used to connect the structured cabling:

The rules of how to design and install structured cabling are laid out by laying the cables in various ways, with the central patch panel as the center to connecting with a module so that it can be used as need. This is in order to meet the needs of your business and how you want your phone systems to be connected or to fit the building connection better. Each outlet can then be matched into the network switch or a PBX telephone system for network use. Data ports connected to the network switch requires simple straight-through patch cables at each end to connect to a computer.